Primary angiosarcoma of the breast: Case report of a rare vascular tumor

Primary angiosarcoma of the breast: Two case reports and brief review of the literature

Angiosarcoma is a rare but very aggressive tumor. It occurs in all organs of the body, and approximately 8% of all angiosarcomas arise in the breast. We reported 2 cases of primary breast angiosarcomas in young women. The 2 patients showed similar clinical features, but were quite different in dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging. The 2 patients were treated with mastectomy and axillary sentinel lymph node dissection and confirmed by post-operative pathological test. We suggested that dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging was the most helpful imaging tool in the diagnosis and pre-operative evaluation of the breast angiosarcoma.

Primary breast angiosarcoma: A case report

Background

Primary breast angiosarcoma (PBA) is a rare sarcoma, accounting for only 0.04% of all breast malignancies, with a difficult diagnosis and a poor prognosis. Mastectomy is the standard treatment, and the role of adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy following surgery) remains uncertain with very few studies.

Case Presentation

We report the case of a 17-year-old female patient who presented with a right breast lump that had rapidly increased in size and was hemorrhaging. She was diagnosed with breast angiosarcoma by needle biopsy and pathological evaluation. However, the mass showed a quick tendency to bleed during biopsies. After that, we performed angiography and tumor vascular embolization. The patient underwent a mastectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.

Conclusion

Tumor vascular embolization reduced the surgical risk of PBA with hemorrhage complications. Postoperative therapeutic roles still need further exploration and verification.

Primary Breast Angiosarcoma: Utilisation of Pre-surgical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for Accurate Tumour Characterization and Planning - A Case Report and Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Primary breast angiosarcoma is a rare malignancy with non-specific clinical and radiological findings.

CASE REPORT

A 30-year-old lady presented with left breast pain and lumpiness for over one year. She has had several breast ultrasounds (US) and was treated for acute mastitis and abscess. Subsequently, in view of the rapid growth of the lump and worsening pain, she was re-investigated with US, elastography, digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and MRI. MRI raised the suspicion of angiosarcoma. The diagnosis was confirmed after biopsy and she underwent mastectomy.

DISCUSSION

Literature review on imaging findings of breast angiosarcoma, especially on MRI, is discussed. MRI features showed heterogeneous low signal intensity on T1 and high signal intensity on T2. Dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) features included either early enhancement with or without washout in the delayed phase, and some reported central areas of non-enhancement.

CONCLUSION

This case report emphasises on the importance of MRI in clinching the diagnosis of breast angiosarcoma, and hence, should be offered sooner to prevent diagnostic delay.